There has been an ongoing dramatic rise of sick and dead pets believed to be linked to multiple brands of pet foods. The reports have continued for at least three months. And for three long months the FDA has NOT issued any statement to what they are or are not doing to investigate. Why?
We do not know how many reports of sick pets FDA has received. Based on numbers collected we assume several thousand reports have been submitted to the agency over the past three months, with several hundred pet deaths.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have been submitted to FDA requesting the actual number of adverse event reports the agency has received, but the FDA has not responded to those requests (any requests – including from mainstream media).
There is no valid reason to not disclose to the public how many complaints the agency has received. Is the FDA protecting the brands, intentionally trying to limit the number of complaints OR are the brands involved controlling FDA’s actions through corporate lawyers?
On numerous occasions in the past we know that when FDA makes an announcement regarding an investigation, consumer reports to the agency dramatically increase. During the FDA’s investigation into the potential link of pet food to canine heart disease the FDA stated: “The majority of the reports were submitted to the FDA after its first public alert in July 2018.”
During FDA’s jerky treat investigation, the same increase in pet illness and death reports were seen after the agency issued a public statement. The blue arrows in the chart below were dates of FDA public announcements regarding their jerky treat investigations, the red lines indicate the number of consumer complaints the agency received.
“After FDA issued CVM Updates about its Jerky Pet Treats investigation (indicated by the arrows in the graph above), the agency received an increase in reports from the public. The most pronounced increase was in late 2013, when FDA issued our most comprehensive update, which included a “Dear Veterinarian” letter requesting specific clinical data and providing a fact sheet for pet owners.”
Is FDA’s silence to protect pet foods involved? Or is that silence because FDA is being pressured by the pet foods involved?
Based on historical evidence (obtained years after each incident through FOIA requests), we also know that pet food companies can be less than cooperative with an FDA investigation and often bring corporate attorneys into an investigation.
Such as, in 2013 when FDA was investigating numerous complaints regarding Beneful pet food – FDA investigation documents stated: “The firm was in direct and constant contact with the Purina corporate Regulatory Affairs office in St. Louis, MO during this inspection.”
In a Mars Petcare investigation from 2017 the FDA inspection report stated: “It was reiterated several times during the inspection the firm needs to share information requested by FDA during inspections. Refusing to provide requested records and information for review prevents FDA investigators from being able to thoroughly evaluate the firm’s manufacturing processes to ensure the safety of the firm’s products and determine compliance with applicable FDA law, rules, and regulations.”
What we do know is that reports of sick and dying pets continue to be received from pet owners. We are also receiving reports of human illness believed to be linked to the pet foods too.
What we also know is that we (pet owners) deserve to be updated by FDA. Three months of ongoing reports from pet owners of sick and dead pets is long enough for FDA to remain silent – it does not matter what their reasons are, it does not matter if they are being challenged by corporate attorneys.
The following message was sent to FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM):
It is unacceptable that FDA CVM has not updated pet owners regarding the current pet food investigation. FDA has historically made public announcements updating the public during investigations, and there is no acceptable excuse for pet owners not to be updated in this instance.
How many adverse event reports has the agency received?
How many brands are involved in those reports?
What is the agency doing in this investigation?
If manufacturers are not cooperating with an FDA investigation, pet owners should be informed of this too. After all, the agency has on numerous occasions in the past published prompt public notices when a raw pet food manufacturer has not cooperated with an FDA investigation. The agency should show no bias in regulating pet food, all styles of pet food should be treated with equal enforcement.
Your lack of informing the public leaves the public to believe the FDA CVM picks and chooses what they are willing to share, picks and chooses which manufacturers they are willing to ‘out’ as uncooperative – potentially indicating the agency is protecting manufacturers involved in this instance. Your lack of informing the public increases consumer distrust in the agency – which I assume is not your goal.
If the FDA CVM wants consumer trust in the agency, communicate with us. Keep pet owners informed – we deserve that.
We encourage pet owners to send a message to FDA CVM asking for the agency to issue a public update (email: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov). We also encourage pet owners to write their representatives in state and federal government to pressure FDA to issue a public update. We deserve to know, and unfortunately we must put pressure on the FDA CVM to obtain what we deserve.
Please do not allow the FDA’s lack of communication with pet owners discourage you from reporting a sick or dead pet. It is significantly important for all pet owners to document a sick pet believed to be linked to a pet food or treat with FDA. If for no other reason than to document the issue for future reference by advocates (when FOIA requests are filed) – your report is important. If your pet gets sick from any pet food, please report the incident to FDA. Click Here for more information on where/how to do that.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Peg
March 20, 2024 at 4:36 pm
I have a dear friend who is a Mobile Pet Groomer and dog owner herself. She home cooks for Pixie. I told her about what is going on. She says almost every client whose home she goes to has a sick or dead cat or dog. According to her, the vets are diagnosing both dogs and cats with PLE. Giving massive amounts of steroids and cyclosporine, a powerful immunosuppressive human chemotherapy drug. If this, is in fact a pesticide as Dr Judy mentioned in her latest video update; suppressing immune function would hasten the death of the pet. Criminal with a capital C.
Deniese
March 20, 2024 at 5:03 pm
Which foods are connected o the 3 months of sick and dying pets?
Susan Thixton
March 20, 2024 at 5:15 pm
I do not have a list of all of the brands – and it continues to change. The best I can tell you is there are many different manufacturers involved.
Susen Santoro
March 20, 2024 at 7:24 pm
I had a recent conversation with a vet tech and she said they get numerous calls a day from people saying their dogs have various digestive issues all from Purina Pro Plan.
Holly
March 20, 2024 at 8:40 pm
No test results confirming food contamination have been provided to pet parents and these allegations have been on the Saving Pets site since early December. It is almost April…. Dr Judy says no more testing will be done. They keep delaying releasing any evidence. Why?
Purina feeds 45 million pets around the world. If there was an issue, news sources would be picking up on them. The main places we are hearing these claims are this blog, the Saving Pets group and Dr Judy’s website and social media pages. We are not seeing any reporting from credible resources…
Asking for evidence is okay. Not believing what people tell you without evidence is okay. The Saving Pets page that fuels these claims do not think so. They block anyone asking for the answers to the tests. They are using fear for profit.
Pet parents sent in samples – why can they not access the results?
Do not believe everything you read.
Susan Thixton
March 20, 2024 at 9:29 pm
Holly – you don’t believe several thousand pet owners are “credible”? The reports are coming directly from pet owners, why would you dismiss their reports? You don’t have to agree, but it is cruel to say a pet owner that reports a dead pet as not being credible. Have you spoke with any pet owner involved in this? I have. And I believe them.
With test results, have you asked FDA or any state for their test results? You seem to be pointing fingers at only the advocates, when regulatory is not releasing any information at all. Many pet owners have provided FDA and State Department of Agriculture with samples (certainly many more than was provided to veterinarians) and not one agency has released any information. Why is it acceptable to you for FDA and States to remain silent but not acceptable to you when advocates are silent?
To claim that anyone is sharing pet owner reports “for profit” is ridiculous and insulting.
Liz Peters
March 21, 2024 at 12:00 am
I don’t think the many dogs suddenly refusing to eat the food they’ve always had is a weird coincidence. So many have bloody stools and are vomiting. We went through this years ago with the “Nutro” recall. We almost lost a dog before an official recall was made.
Rox
March 21, 2024 at 10:49 am
Susan, while I appreciate everyone’s level of sheer terror at the possibility of being sued by a petfood company with deep pockets to afford endless legal costs to bring hapless pet parents to heel, or worse being subjected to government threats of litigation, arrest or imprisonment for revealing what the pet parents were feeding that murdered their four-legged family member, I am going to come right out and say this: REVEAL THE CULPRITS, GET THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA INVOLVED, PLASTER THE GUILTY PARTIES’ NAMES ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA, SATURATION PHONE CALLS EMAILS WRITTEN LETTERS TO ELECTED OFFICIALS. Because the ONLY way this issue gets resolved is if PEOPLE SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT instead of hiding behind “hints”. As for me? I shifted to HOME PREPARED years ago as the ONE AND ONLY SAFE WAY TO FEED MY DOGS.
Caroline Snyder
March 21, 2024 at 11:45 am
The FDA is being VERY obstructive, as usual, and is NOT releasing information right now. Of course they do NOT want to hit Big Pet Food’s profits. MOST of the folk arriving in my FB group with sick animals (Link Below), were fed PURINA. PRO PLAN is the most commonly-reported, but it may well be their biggest seller also. Purine One True Instinct also.This whole thing stinks as much as the “BENEFUL DEATHS” saga which was around the time I started my group, 2012. We also had the JERKY TREATS saga.. the FDA had a hand-written report that the drums of PROPYLENE GLYCOL (PG) at the Chinese plant that made Purina’s jerky treats was labelled INDUSTRIAL GRADE. There IS an FDA loophole that means that they CAN do this, for dog food/treats, but it would be contaminated with METHANOL and DIETHYLENE GLYCOL for starters.. consequences of consumption are of course dire but hey, neither Nestle nor the Chinese Communist Party care one crap about American pet owners. Oh, and PURINA subbed GLYCERIN for PROPYLENE GLYCOL.. in their BENEFUL and in their Jerky treats.. LOL! PG is MADE from GLYCERIN.. and is therefore AS likely to be contaminated industrial grade as PG! Funny that the Jerky Deaths continued.. with new reporting coming out in 2018….
Rob Catania dog dad
March 21, 2024 at 3:27 pm
…U.S.A incorporated has the worst regulation on pet food and human grade food in the world!
…The Food and Drug Administration was basically created to protect and cover-up for all these criminal pharma/food manufacturers.
….”We fought the wrong enemy”.
…. said General Patton.